Character Analysis: Victor Frankenstein
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Victor Frankenstein is considered the “protagonist” of Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. But upon reading the book you get to explore who Victor Frankenstein is and what he is like. Victor expresses both characteristics of a hero and anti-hero throughout volume one. His characteristics are changed and affected by the conflicts that he is facing. In volume one of the book Victor Frankenstein evolve from anti-heroic characteristics to heroic characteristics.
Victor Frankenstein went through events that led to a change in his characteristics. Victor first went away from home to pursue his academic goals in alchemy. During his studies, Victor starts to conduct his project to reanimate a dead body back to life with the help of his early childhood obsession electricity. Victor then devoted all his time and effort to completing his dream project only to find out that he had made a grave mistake. Victor did successful reanimate the body, but he didn’t like his own creation and was scared of it. With Victor becoming very ill and the creature that has gone missing, the problems of Victor continue to escalate as he receives news that his young brother William was murdered. Victor is then forced to go back home to Geneva to find out that William’s murder is Victor’s own creation and Justine is being framed for it. These events are what changed Victor’s characteristics throughout volume one.
During the beginning of the volume one of the book, Victor Frankenstein has anti-heroic characteristics. When Victor is first doing his project he shows these characteristics. “”Is that all? my dear Henry. How could you suppose that my first thought would not fly towards those dear, dear friends whom I love, and who are so deserving of my love?”” (Frankenstein P. 40). In this quote, Frankenstein is responding to his friend, Henry Clerval, about the lack of responses that Frankenstein is been having with his family. Frankenstein’s comment is saying that he doesn’t really care about that as much as his creation. Victor isn’t worried about the things his family is trying to tell him or does it matter that his family is reaching out as much as they are trying to. This shows a lack of empathy with Frankenstein’s character which is a classic anti-hero characteristic.
However, Victor Frankenstein shows heroic characteristics after reading the letters that his family sends him. During the time of William’s death, Victor shows much sympathy towards his family members and notices how important it was to them for him to go. “At first I wished to hurry on, for I longed to console and sympathize with my loved and sorrowing friends…” (Frankenstein P. 48). He shows his concern toward the family’s feelings and what they are going through. He expresses a heroic characteristic by doing so. Frankenstein after this expresses emotions with families and wishes to help them in their time of need.
In conclusion, depending on the events that Victor Frankenstein goes through changes his characteristics from heroic to anti-heroic. Victor is a very dynamic character because of this and shows through his actions and responses. However, sometimes Victor seems to lean more toward the anti-heroic side in the later chapters of the books. And the cause for such changes are in the events or problems he faces.
